Heilongjiang skiers repeat dominance in Alpine skiing at Chinese National Winter Games

CHIFENG - Skiers from China's Alpine skiing powerhouse Heilongjiang province extended their strong momentum on Sunday, sweeping top three places in the women's slalom at the Chinese National Winter Games.

Zhu Tianhui finished two races in a combined time of one minute and 45 seconds to win the event. Kong Fanying was 2.17 seconds behind in the second place, followed by her teammate Ni Yueming, who was trailing further slightly 0.78 seconds.

The three skiers also monopolized the podium on Saturday in the women's giant slalom with Ni seizing the top place.

"I converted my training level to the competition," said Zhu. "I think that's the result I deserve and the victory comes due to my good attitude and mentality here."

The men's triumph went to Zhang Yangming, a veteran from Jilin province, who clocked an overall 1:36.78. Wang Yu from Heilongjiang province was 1.25 seconds behind for the second place and Zhang's teammate Akcholi Murat, the giant slalom winner on Saturday, was third, 2.59 seconds adrift of the winner.

It's a surprise victory for Zhang, who just partly recovered from a severe injury suffered from the training in Austria in March. "I got a comminuted fracture of tibia and fibula in the Austria training and three steel nails were implanted to my ankle. I thought my career as an athlete is totally over," said Zhang. "I was so sad back then and had not expected to recover in time for the national games."

Zhang received medical treatment in Europe and after detaching the nails, he returned to the Jilin provincial team and retook the training. "I was lost when I picked up the training and I felt it was the hardest time in my 16-year career. My coach and teammates gave me a lot of encouragements," said Zhang. "I would like to contribute my gold medal today to them."

Zhang finished fourth Saturday in the giant slalom. "My right leg is not fully recovered yet and I can still feel the pain now," added Zhang.

"It's the best time for the Chinese skiers. I hope I can get qualified for the Beijing 2022 Olympics, but firstly, I need to get fully recovered and to regain my best form."